Third report on women at the U-M finds areas of
'modest progress,' cites lack of women in tenure ranks

By Deborah Gilbert
News and Information Services

The third report on Women at the University of Michigan, which
tracks the status and progress of women on the Ann Arbor campus, will
be released today by the Office of the President.

Percentage of women staff by job family, Ann Arbor campus,
1995

The report identifies some areas of "modest progress," but also
notes that, in general, as in past years, "the higher the rung on the
academic ladder, the fewer women are to be found." The 1996 report
augments the information presented in 1992 and 1993, and is the most
comprehensive to date.

"These reports provide an accurate measure of the relative
standing of women in the University, identify inequities, and provide
a benchmark for the future," says Carol S. Hollenshead, chair of the
committee that prepared the report and director of the Center for the
Education of Women (CEW).

"While the 1996 report demonstrates some progress," she says, "it
also makes it clear that we must increase our efforts on behalf of
women at all levels at the University."

"The report is a critical benchmark for the University against
which we can measure gains for the Michigan Agenda for Women," adds
Lisa A. Tedesco, professor and associate dean in the School of
Dentistry, and a member of the President's Advisory Commission on
Women's Issues.

"The gains identified in the report, while modest, are important
because they demonstrate what can be accomplished when attention is
paid to the academic environment," she stresses.

President James J. Duderstadt is encouraged as well. "The
proportion of women faculty on the tenure track has in creased, and
10 women scholars have been hired through the 'New Lines' program as
part of the Michigan Agenda for Women, launched in 1994.

"Also, although this development is not part of the report, I am
pleased that this September Michigan will become the first major
university in America to achieve gender equity in intercollegiate
athletics, with 47 percent female participation.

"However," he adds, "I am concerned that women are still
underrepresented in the tenure and tenure-track ranks and that the
University continues to experience occupational segregation by
gender. This very detailed report supports the first-hand experiences
of many women at U-M, particularly women of color who live with
inequity every day.

"I hope this information will help us recommit to programs,
policies and, perhaps most important, changes in attitudes that will
create a more positive climate in which women can excel at the
University."

J. Bernard Machen, provost and executive vice president for
academic affairs, agrees. "While we are doing a better job of
increasing the proportion of women on our faculty at all ranks,
women, especially women of color, continue to be underrepresented in
tenured and tenure track positions.

"Also, women are still underrepresented in the upper ranks of
administrators and staff, and women of color continue to be clustered
in the maintenance and office job families.

"This [the findings of the report] is, overall, a
disappointing result," he adds. "Vigorous continuing efforts will be
needed to accelerate our progress."

"When we look at specific programs, such as the Target of
Opportunity Program, it seems that we are making some progress toward
increasing the number of faculty women of color.

"Yet when we look at the University's numbers in the aggregate, it
becomes clear that one program alone cannot accomplish our
institutional goals. We must have a concerted hiring and retention
effort that addresses opportunity for the faculty, student and staff
women of color," Monts says.

The report includes data for each school, college and unit, and
for staff and administration across the University.

Key findings in the report include:

Between 1990 and 1995, the proportion of women assistant
professors grew from 30 percent to 36 percent. Similarly, the
proportion of women associate professors rose from 23 percent to 26
percent and the proportion of full professors rose from 9 percent to
12 percent.

In 1994­95, women represented 38 percent of new faculty hired
into tenured positions.

Although women represent nearly half of the U-M undergraduate
degree recipients and about a third of U-M doctoral degree
recipients, just 22 percent of the tenured and tenure-track faculty
are women while 53 percent of the lecturers are women.

Nationally, 35 percent of all and tenure-track faculty are women,
according to the American Council on Education.

Women of color, who encounter the double jeopardy of race and
gender discrimination, make up just 4 percent of the tenured and
tenure-track faculty while they make up 10 percent of the
lecturers.

An extensive analysis of tenure attainment for faculty hired
between 1982 and 1988 revealed that women were less likely to attain
tenure than men. For instance, 52 percent of men hired as assistant
professors in that cohort attained tenure compared with 42 percent of
the women.

Similarly, 53 percent of the male faculty of color in that cohort
attained tenure in contrast with 38 percent women of color.

Occupational segregation by gender still thrives. For instance, 94
percent of the office staff on the Ann Arbor cam pus are women but
only 2 percent of the more highly paid skilled tradespersons and
operating engineers are women.

Some 73 percent of professional/administrative positions in salary
grades 1­5 are filled by women while 30 percent of the employees
in grades 16 and above are women. [These figures do not include
U-M Hospitals staff.]

Among women researchers in the primary research ranks, 16 percent
are in the highest ranks while 34 percent are in the lowest
ranks.

The proportion of women assistant deans jumped from 34 percent in
1990 to 50 percent in 1995. The proportion of women associate and
senior deans, however, dropped from 41 percent in 1990 to 27 percent
in 1995.

In the archivist, curator and librarian ranks, the proportion of
women decreased from 74 percent in 1990 to 63 per cent in 1995.

Since 1992, the proportion of women hired into faculty positions
compared to their availability in national Ph.D. pools has improved
in a number of fields, but gaps remain in others. The largest gaps
between the available Ph.D. pools and the proportion of women hired
are in the schools of medicine, pharmacy, law and art.

The report also noted that Ph.D. completion by men and women
varies according to field. There is little difference in the
biological and social sciences and only slight ones in the humanities
and the arts, but there are greater disparities by gender in the
physical sciences and engineering.

Copies of the report can be obtained by e-mailing Merta Trumble at
mtrumble@umich.edu or by calling CEW at 998-7080.